In mining and tunneling, for example, there is a constant ongoing process of improving efficiency, productivity and safety. Examples of changes/improvements that are carried out to an increasing extent, perhaps in particular in mining, is the automation, fully or partly, of various processes occurring in mining.
It is, for example, often desirable that at least part of the vehicles/machines that are used in mining/tunneling can be driven fully autonomous, i.e. without an operator being required to influence the steering. Autonomous operation, however, is not always suitable or even economically justifiable. This is true in particular in environments that constantly change, for example in certain types of mines where new galleries/drifts frequently arise, and older drifts can be refilled, which normally has an impact on autonomous operation of machines. This is because a setup of a fully autonomous solution normally is relatively time and resource consuming, and a new setup is at least partially required as soon as the environment in which the autonomous machine is driven changes.
In many situations, therefore, such machines are instead being driven by means of remote control, where the machine is driven without a driver, but where, instead, an operator, for example in a control room, controls the machine by means of suitable maneuvering means, such as, for example, control sticks.
One example of vehicles/machines where remote control often is desirable consists of so called LHD (Load-Haul-Dump) machines. The driving of such machines belong to the more dangerous tasks that exists in mines, for example because they are often used to remove and transport broken rock/ore from, for example, a position where blasting has been performed to another position for further processing. The remote control consequently has the advantage that the operator can be removed from the dangerous environment in which the machine works to a considerably safer location such as, for example, a control room.
Remote control can also be used for other kinds of machines, e.g. when drilling by means of drilling rigs and when driving machines, e.g. in the form of mine trucks.
There is an exchange of data between the machine and, e.g., the, usually located on a distance, control room where an operator controls the machine by means of said data exchange during such remote control of machines. These data can, for example, consist of steering commands for maneuvering the vehicle, sensor data from various sensors arranged on the machine and video data (video streams) from one or more video cameras arranged on the machine.
The one (or more) video streams being received from the machine and other data, respectively, can, for example, be presented on a display arranged in the control room, whereby the operator can use the video pictures for orientation in the surroundings of the machine and maneuver the machine in a desired manner. In order to facilitate remote control of the machine, other data can also be used in addition to said video data, such as, for example, a so called “machine view”. The machine view depicts the machine and its surroundings, preferably from the above, and facilitates, for example, an estimation of the lateral clearance distance of the machine, while the video facilitates detection of obstacles that are not disclosed by the machine view.
Irrespective of these aids, however, the machine surroundings and actual direction of travel in relation to the surroundings are not perceived as well during remote control as in the case when the operator is actually present in the machine.
In case the remote controlled machine is stationary or substantially stationary, which, for example, often can be considered to be the case with a drilling drill rig that is moved by comparatively small steps at a time, this is a less significant problem, but when remote controlling e.g. loading machines or mine trucks, which can be arranged to be remote controlled for longer distances in, for example, a mine, the reduced perception has as result that the machine oftentimes is being driven with a lower speed when being remote controlled than when the machine is being driven by an operator that is present at the machine.